Sophie M.
@sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
1.9K followers 2.3K following 2K posts
Writer for Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs - Creator of the speculative evolution project "A New Age of Reptiles" - Natural History and Palaeontology Pop Culture - 27 - (she/her) -
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Reposted by Sophie M.
sandyhorne.bsky.social
Yellow-footed rock-wallaby. Boolcoomatta Reserve.
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
My own style feels much the same, at least to me! The fact that I can see exactly how you put pencil to paper is exactly what I like about it. More technically accomplished art is wonderful in its own right, but I often struggle to even imagine how I'd replicate it. No such issue with your drawings!
Reposted by Sophie M.
fabioaleromero.bsky.social
Some work out recently made, cetotherium riabinini is a small baleen whale from the Late Miocene of the Eastern Paratethys sea (Ukraine), a almost complete individual show it had remarkable body proportions unlike modern elongated species in a minuscule size.
Some work out recently made, Cetotherium riabinini is a small baleen whale from the Late Miocene of the Eastern Paratethys sea (Ukraine), a almost complete individual show it had remarkable body proportions unlike modern elongated species in a minuscule size.
Reposted by Sophie M.
asherelbein.bsky.social
Dr. Maxine “Max” Abbott (née Langford) is an oft-forgotten paleontologist of early 20th century Texas. Born in the 1920s, this pint-sized paleobotanical powerhouse worked on the Carboniferous swamps of North America and the Cretaceous jungles of Texas.

(All photos from her papers at Sul Ross.)
A dark-haired woman with an upturned nose, a white shirt, a ribbon and a plaid skirt holds up a piece of carboniferous plant material from her work desk, where she's been painting it with clear varnish to preserve it A 1950s news article about Maxine Abbott's NSF grant, which notes that she was previously conducting her paleobotany research as a volunteer while at Cincinnati and working in a local department store office three days a week to pay research costs. A black and white photo of a young Maxine Langford in the 1930s at Texas Tech, smiling at the camera from a bench. She's wearing a knee-length dress, a plaid short sleeved shirt, and glasses. She's clearly very small. A photo of undergraduate Maxine Langford posing climbing in through the window of an abandoned stone building new Mexico, wearing field pants, boots, and a short sleeve shirt. It's a great look, honestly.
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
I've said it many times before but I really do adore your artwork, it's always so naturalistic. Your drawings are also done in a way that is very easy to understand from an artistic standpoint and I've learned a lot by studying them. I'm always happy to see more of it!
Reposted by Sophie M.
tetzoo.bsky.social
Assorted drawings I've done but maybe not shared. Fighting elephant seals, the Paleogene pantodont Coryphodon, a Black rough-necked monitor, and the Triassic trilophosaur Teraterpeton.
Drawing of fighting elephant seals. Drawing of Coryphodon. Drawing of Black rough-necked monitor. Drawing of Teraterpeton.
Reposted by Sophie M.
stevebrusatte.bsky.social
Walking in the footsteps of…giant Carboniferous trees?

Some 325 million years ago these coal swamp trees were so heavy they made ‘tree prints’ in the soft coral-infused limestone under the soil.

And today we saw them on our University of Edinburgh undergrad trip to Barns Ness!
Reposted by Sophie M.
palaeonavix.bsky.social
Outdated, but worth keeping as a technical piece
Reposted by Sophie M.
Reposted by Sophie M.
coastalpaleo.bsky.social
New blog post: tracking the slow exposure and erosion of a small fossil baleen whale skull in the Pliocene Purisima Formation on the northern California coast. This is the fifth skull of the dwarf baleen whale Herpetocetus that I've discovered, and still need to dig up! #whaleontology 🧪🦖🐬
A new Herpetocetus specimen awaiting excavation
During a field day in May of 2023, I was out scouting for fossils and came across an interesting bit of skull in a horizontal rock face belo...
coastalpaleo.blogspot.com
Reposted by Sophie M.
sketchy-raptor.bsky.social
The dewlap is finished... I can foresee a very stupid universe full of poor choices where I also decide to manually sculpt the individual scales across the full body. But I do think it's time to commit to some custom alphas, now.
Reposted by Sophie M.
caxela.bsky.social
Helveticosaurus Lair
A gathering of marine reptiles (Helveticosaurus zollingeri) lie on exposed rocks within a sea cave. Foamy sea water rushes in from the left, swirling beneath their perch.
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
I love this book, and its influence on you is very clear in your art. It’s an odd blend of classic and Dinosaur Renaissance ideas perfectly reflecting the transitional state of dinosaur science at that time.

Stone’s “Brachiosaurus” is so eerie! It’s like a zombie, especially with those milky eyes.
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
Bakker’s writing is a real treat, he’s infectiously enthusiastic and does such a great job presenting his arguments. Even the stuff that hasn’t held up upon further study feels entirely convincing on the page. I go back every few years and reread it simply because it’s such a joy to read!
Reposted by Sophie M.
witmerlab.bsky.social
If you haven't read—or re-read in a while—Bakker's 1986 classic The Dinosaur Heresies, it's well worth doing. I read it in 1986 & again on my recent trip to Japan. Got a pb copy for $10 for the long trip (1st photo) rather than take my signed 1st ed (got John Gurche to sign his cover art, too!). 🦖
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
As cool as it would be, the idea hasn’t fared well under scrutiny. This Tetrapod Zoology covers the trunk hypothesis in detail, it used to have pictures but Scientific American has stripped them from all their old blog posts. Still informative, though!

www.scientificamerican.com/blog/tetrapo...
Junk in the trunk: why sauropod dinosaurs did not possess trunks (redux, 2012)
www.scientificamerican.com
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
This particular one is a couple of years younger than WWD, so it may be that the influence is in the other direction!
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
He’s commented on the @chasmosaurs.bsky.social blog a few times in recent memory, so he is still alive as far as I’m aware. I’d love to know why he stopped doing palaeoart!
Reposted by Sophie M.
arminreindl.bsky.social
#Croctober Day 12
Probably among the most obscure recently extinct crocodilians is Aldabrachampsus, a small (up to 2.5 meter) long animal of uncertain placement with a pair of rounded squamosal horns that lived on the Seychelles around 100.000 years ago
An illustratoin of Aldabrachampsus by paleoartist Manusuchus. The illustration shows the animal as similar to modern dwarf crocodiles with a short, blunt snout, interlocking teeth, large bulging eyes but different in having large, rounded horns above the ears.
Reposted by Sophie M.
emilyart.bsky.social
#Paleoctober2025 day 11 and 12 paleoart sketches with the Precambrian microfossil Melanocyrillium and the Late Cretaceous antler-like crested pterosaur Nyctosaurus.

#Paleoctober #Paleoart #Melanocyrillium #Nyctosaurus
Close up of the microscopic vase-shaped cell. Portrait of a brown with white spots Nyctosaurus with its beak pointing downward to the right and its long crest only visible toward the base with the rest going off screen. A rocky shore is in the background.
Reposted by Sophie M.
andrewlhipp.bsky.social
Gems from Sierra Norte de Oaxaca, Friday: Conopholis (@skunkcabbages.bsky.social), dahlia, butterwort, witch's butter.
Conopholis alpina (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/320141134) Dahlia (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/320147537) Pinguicula orchidioides (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/320146821) Witch's butter, jelly fungus (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/320141138)
Reposted by Sophie M.
villesinkkonen.bsky.social
Drawing them carboniferous creepy crawlies #sciart
Reposted by Sophie M.
timosborne.ca
Woke up early so decided to take an impromptu trip to Elk Island National Park. Saw a number of bison along the roads and had a nice encounter with this coyote who was kind enough not to immediately run away. #wildlife #coyote
A coyote standing in the grass with fall colours in the background. A coyote standing on the edge of a paved road. A coyote pausing to look at the strange guy in the Jeep passing by.